This document discusses a project to create mobile apps to provide just-in-time support for trainee teachers in Wales. It describes creating English and Welsh language apps using the Xerte and App Studio platforms to give teachers access to the Welsh science curriculum and skills levels on their mobile devices. An evaluation found the initial app format needed adjusting. The apps will be made freely available to educators in Wales through the Hwb platform, and there is potential to create similar apps for other subjects and professions to support workplace learning.

1. Equipping the Mobile Teacher:
a project to provide ‘just in time’ support
for trainee teachers
Christine Davies, Simon Gibbon, Darren Green
University of Wales Trinity St David

2. …a project to help trainee secondary science
teachers on the Teach First Programme in
Wales (and every other science teacher!)

4. Teach First Teachers (all teachers!) are busy people
• Need to use National
Curriculum for Science skills
levels and level descriptors
• Need to integrate ‘Y
Cwricwlwm Cymreig’ and
incidental Welsh in science
lessons

5. Science Skills: strands in progression
see:
http://wales.gov.u
k/topics/educatio
nandskills/schools
home/curriculumi
nwales/arevisedcu
rriculumforwales/
nationalcurriculu
m/sciencenc/?lan
g=en

6. How best to provide ‘just in time’ information?
• Xerte good way of bringing
together different types of
content
• Formats available for mobile
devices
• Free 
• But: ‘learning pack’ needs to
be hosted, so involves links,
steps, logins: not popular
with trainees

7. App Studio
• Takes ready-made
content
• Produces app for
Apple devices,
especially iPhones
(alternative route
for Android
devices)
• one-click access 
• But: Cost 

8. Development process

10. Evaluation
• Feedback form trainee teachers indicated
that format needed adjustment (potential
for more cost )
• Further evaluation of modified app will take
place over next few months

11. Next Steps
• Welsh-language version now produced
• Further evaluation of both English and Welsh versions
needed
• Apps made freely available to the educational community
in Wales, eg. via ‘Hwb’

12. Further possibilities
• Mobile ‘apps’ have great potential to support
a range of different work-place learning
needs eg. complex diagrams for engineering;
data for finance; dosing regimes in health-
care situations
• Apps could be made freely available (OER),
or there is a possibility of earning income!

13. Dr Christine Davies
University of Wales Trinity St David
Carmarthen
Christine.davies@uwtsd.ac.uk